Make Gun Tools That Don’t Exist with Moldable Thermoplastic

While working on a completely different project I discovered something curious on Amazon. That product was moldable  thermoplastic pellets.

Shaped in balls like smaller-than-usual airsoft pellets, moldable thermoplastic melts at just 140F, can be formed like clay, and then increases in hardness as it approaches room temperature.

There are seemingly endless uses for this product, but I had a pet one in mind for the test: a US Optics turret tool.

With most scopes (several of them being US Optics) a simple hex wrench can be used to float turrets back to zero after obtaining a physical zero.

But no, not the case with the USO BT-10.

While official instructions say to press down with your palm on the top and rotate, the reality meant several friends and I tried in vain to accomplish this for about an hour.

And once you get it, it has to be pushed back in the same way.

Either way you cut it, it sucked on both ends.

So, a US Optics BT-10 tool it would be.

Firstly, you heat up some water at a medium temperature. Then drop some thermoplastic in place. Once it's clear, then it's pliable.

Then all you have to do is mold it around an object. I have found that it does not stick to treated metal but may to plastics (so use a release agent like PAM). As it comes to temperature, it becomes opaque again.

[Note that I did attempt to add texture which is why it looks so rough]

Does it work?
Hell. Yes.

The extra area and easier grip makes floating turrets a HELLUVA lot easier with this scope.

The best part is, if you muck it up it can be re-melted and reused.

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